Conventionally, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as “wafer”) is stuck with an adhesive sheet for protecting a circuit surface thereof. For example, the adhesive sheet is peeled off through a sheet peeling apparatus after a back grinding processing and the like of the wafer is carried out.
The above-mentioned peeling of the adhesive sheet can be performed, for example, using a sheet peeling apparatus disclosed in a patent document 1. The apparatus is configured to stick a peeling tape to an adhesive sheet stuck on a wafer, and when pulling the peeling tape, move the edge member and the wafer relative to each other while pressing an edge member having a tip formed in an acute angle against the adhesive sheet and pulling the peeling tape.    [Patent document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-124494